Partial transcript of press briefing remarks by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) on the House Republicans’ continuing resolution amendments to repeal women’s preventive care and the government shutdown. The press briefing was held on Sept. 30, 2013:

So here we are on the eve of a government shutdown, and rather than going forward and doing what we’re supposed to be doing, which is to keep government running, the Republicans have used every single opportunity to put in various provisions that would defund the Affordable Care Act.

This isn’t the first time in the House they’ve tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Dozens of times. And when I was in the House I voted against every single one of those efforts. 43. Dozens.

Somebody who said if you keep doing the same thing, you’re going to get the same results. So it’s time to take another tack but apparently the Republicans have not gotten that message yet.

…At midnight or some dead of night they snuck in a provision one more time that specifically targets women of this country. It’s just amazing.

We already have laws in this country that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion and yet they put in this provision that just targets the women in this country. It truly defies logic, and my colleagues have already talked about what they’re doing. It’s preventive care for women where women do not have to pay co-pay. So it especially hits women in a way that is totally unjustified, unfair.

And I say to everyone in this country who cares about fair treatment of everyone: Stop doing this. Let’s move forward. Let us pass legislation that’s going to keep government going, that’s going to raise the debt ceiling, and then we can have a rational reasoned debate – yes we have a lot of differences – on these other issues. Stop targeting women for these kinds of specific attacks.